At the end of February 2022, we installed 2 OffGridBoxes in the Nakivale refugee settlement in Isingiro, Uganda. Our first two boxes deployed in Uganda! They were sent across the border from our office in Rwanda, and our chief technician Jado Ndayambaje went along to deploy them. They are part of a project funded by the Smart Communities Coalition Innovation Fund, for which OffGridBox, together with Nakivale-based savings group Moban SACCO, and Sweden-based company BiziSol put in a successful bid.
Women collecting clean water at the OffGridBox in Nakivale refugee settlement
The project involves the establishment of our solar-powered solution providing clean and affordable energy, clean drinking water, and connectivity. Pumped water is channeled to the OffGridBoxes, where it is treated to serve 800 households. Energy is also provided to 400 households by means of rechargeable power banks. And the solar power produced by the OffGridBox will be used for productive use activities such as refrigeration, barber shops, carpentry, and welding as well as a cybercafé. Finally, the containerized solution will offer a Wi-Fi service for nearby households and businesses for information and digital payment services.
On World Refugee Day 2022, the Moban Sacco team had the pleasure of showcasing the work that they do around the OffGridBox, to representatives from UNHCR and the Uganda parliament and Prime Minister’s Office.
We’re looking forward to implementing follow-up projects in Uganda. Nakivale refugee settlement alone already hosts around 120,000 refugees from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi, Somalia, Rwanda, Ethiopia, and Eritrea, so there is a lot of demand for our services. If you want to help us implement more projects, you can do so here.
A female BoxKeeper is hired and trained on daily operations, bookkeeping and sales.
About OffGridBox
OffGridBox is an all-in-one sustainable solution providing clean water and solar power to people in remote areas. OffGridBox is the brainchild of founders Emiliano Cecchini and Davide Bonsignore from 2014. They became inspired to create more efficient technical solutions after working on several OXFAM clean energy projects in South Africa that took more than 3 weeks to install. Since then, the founders produced about 80 boxes deployed in a dozen countries, serving thousands of people in difficult circumstances. Projects range from disaster relief to rural electrification. OffGridBox is headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and the company’s mission is to provide affordable clean water and electricity in remote areas. For more information about OffGridBox, please visit https://www.offgridbox.com